1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optical disc cases for accommodating DVD discs, musical compact discs or computer CD-ROMs. More particularly, the invention concerns an optical disc case, which is contrived to permit reliably storing an optical disc without possibility of damage to the disc as well as permitting quickly and smoothly storing and taking out the disc.
2. Prior Art
As the prior art disc case for accommodating an optical disc, there is one, which comprises a disc holder for holding the center hole of an optical disc with an engaging boss, a case body engaging with the disc holder and a lid coupled to one side of the case body and capable of being opened and closed. This optical disc case has a simple structure and thus finds extensive applications to most commercially available musical compact discs. As a prior art disc case for accommodating a DVD disc, there is one, which has a structure that the disc holder having the engaging boss and the lid capable of being opened and closed are made integral in a hinged fashion.
For recent DVD discs and like multi-function high quality recording media, higher dimensional precision of the player and the disc is demanded than for the conventional compact discs. However, with the prior art optical disc case for protecting an accommodated optical disc, there is a possibility that, whenever the disc is brought into engagement with or detached from the engaging boss of the disc holder, the center hole periphery of the disc is damaged, if even slightly, by its rubbing with the engaging boss. When the center hole periphery of the disc is damaged, if even slightly, play is produced between it and a spindle for rotating the disc in engagement with the center hole thereof. Consequently, the disc may be rotated eccentrically or tilted relative to the intrinsic plane of rotation. This gives rise to a grave problem that the writing and reading of data to and from the disc become imperfect.
In addition, in the above prior art optical disc case, the optical disc is accommodated in close contact with the surface of the disc holder. Therefore, even by pushing as forcibly as possible the engaging boss of the disc holder which has a spring character for taking hold of the disc to be taken out, the disc is hardly floated up. Inconvenient handling is thus inevitable when taking out and storing the disc.
Furthermore, when taking out the disc, the recording surface, the touching of which should be avoided as much as possible, is often touched by fingers and damaged or contaminated.
The invention has an object of providing an optical disc case, which permits very readily taking out an optical disc from it without possibility of damage to or contamination of the recording surface of the disc as well a s permitting the take-out and storage of the disc without possibility of damage to the very important center hole of the disc.